My Favorite Movie Series Character

Movie sequels are a generally a hit or miss proposition, and by extension so are the characters portrayed in them.

If a movie has two (or more) sequels I consider it a series (Terminator, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars to name a few). When this happens the characters (the repeat ones) take on a life of their own - which is not always a good thing.

Take the character of John McClane from the Die Hard series.

I loved the first movie and thought Bruce Willis did a good job with McClane (clichés and all) but as the series went on (and on) I grew tired of the character.

Another example is Sylvester Stallone's perennial pugilist Rocky.

In the first movie Rocky's dimwitted innocence was very endearing; it made you want to root for him. As the series went on (and on, and on) it became painful to watch.

Usually, the major problem in series characters is not the actor's ability to deliver in the role but with the steady decline of the writing quality. It seems that sometimes the Hollywood bean-counters demand a sequel based solely on the returns of the first movie. Lesson to be learned; accountants are not artists and therefore should have no input into the creation of said art. (Yes - I consider movies an art form)

Case(s) in point; Speed 2 (come on, really - a ship?), Grease 2 (no groove, no meaning) and Psycho II (just short of sacrilege).

Sadly even quality actors can not save a financially motivated script.

Fortunately there have been characters from sequels that made the film worth watching.

Look at Clark Griswold of the Vacation series. Chevy Chase's masterful portrayal of the bumbling patriarch makes the three sequels funnier than they deserve to be.

Mel Gibson's character Martin Riggs from the Lethal Weapon series was consistently good despite the steady drop in script quality and Tommy Lee Jones took Samuel Gerard from The Fugitive to U.S. Marshals without missing a beat. Mike Meyers did pretty well with Austin Powers too.

Anybody who loves movies probably has a few characters they look forward to seeing in future films.

Some of mine have been; Jason Bourne, Dirty Harry and Indiana Jones.

But - the one character I never seem to get sick of (regardless of who plays him) is none other than world's most famous spy - Agent 007, James Bond.

According to my research there have been 23* Bond films to date (with number 24 scheduled for release in 2011).

Throughout 23 installments James Bond has changed enough to stay current, but for all intents and purposes he is the same suave, smooth and sarcastic secret agent people have been watching since Dr. No premiered in 1962. Even though author Ian Fleming only wrote 12 Bond novels, the character refuses to die (figuratively speaking of course).

In that time he's been in some of the best movies of the genre (From Russia with Love, The Spy Who Loved Me, Live and Let Die) and some that were not so stellar (Moonraker, Never Say Never Again, A View to a Kill) but through it all James Bond has remained James Bond.

Obviously different actors have brought slightly different idiosyncrasies to the role. Roger Moore was a little less macho then Daniel Craig. Sean Connery may not have been as good looking as Pierce Brosnan but many women still consider him the sexiest Bond and Timothy Dalton added a bit more intrigue to the character than George Lazenby.

All in all, regardless of who brandished the Walther PPK, there is no question that if he pointed it at you, you were in trouble.

Some fans insist on trying to pick a "favorite" Bond. I don't like to get involved in that discussion, but when I am cornered I have to admit that I'm a Roger Moore fan, probably because the first Bond movie I saw was For Your Eyes Only, thus establishing my criteria for who James Bond was. Over the years I have come to appreciate what each actor has brought to the table.

How can you not love George Lazenby's line from On Her Majesty's Secret Service when he has some difficulty with a woman on a deserted beach and looks into the camera and quips "This never happened to the other fellow!"

I can't think of a more iconic movie character.

There is not a wealth of knowledge regarding Bond's personal life history and that may add to the strong appeal he has with audiences world-wide. Proven by the fact that Bond is the all-time highest grossing English-speaking film franchise.

There are certain things that everybody knows about Bond.

His legendary prowess with women tops the list followed by his blatant disrespect for the incredibly expensive gadgets provided by Q-Branch. Faced with an assortment of dastardly villains who concoct the most diabolical (and often Rube Goldberg-like) attempts to kill him, Bond conveys a cool that would make a polar bear envious.

He loves to drive fast and he can't resist a game of Baccarat. There seems to be no end to his encyclopedic knowledge of just about everything. While in the Royal Navy he held the rank of Commander, and seems to have perpetual use of the title.

Weapon of choice - the Walther PPK. People who know next to nothing about guns can tell you what type of gun 007 carries.

Perhaps the most commonly mistaken fact about James Bond is his favorite drink. Most people would blurt "Vodka martini - shaken, not stirred" if it were to come up in Trivial Pursuit. However - truth be told - if you were to tally up all of the drinks Bond has been served you would find that whiskey (bourbon or scotch) would be at the top of the list, followed closely by champagne with the famous vodka martini rounding out the field in third.

Bond is, for my money, the man.

Which is not to say that he's perfect. I remember the first time I watched Goldfinger. I was stunned at 007's response to Jill Masterson's (Shirley Eaton) suggestion of drinking some champagne;

"My dear girl, there are some things that just aren't done, such as drinking Dom Perignon '53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That's just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs!"

Did he just knock The Beatles? No way...and Goldfinger was released in 1964 - the year that Beatle-mania was sweeping the world.

Oh well, I guess he's an Elvis man...

* Never Say Never Again was not considered an "official" Bond film because it was released by Warner Brothers as opposed to United Artists.

Certain information for this article was obtained from:

The Internet Movie Database - http://www.imdb.com/

Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page